A member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plays during a free outdoor concert Wednesday. The orchestra performed as a tribute to a Baltimore community that has seen riots after resident Freddie Gray died while in custody of city police.

A member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plays during a free outdoor concert Wednesday. The orchestra performed as a tribute to a Baltimore community that has seen riots after resident Freddie Gray died while in custody of city police. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS, AFP/Getty Images)

Opinion: How communities can become safer and ease police tensions

Like most people, I have seen and read countless reports regarding tension and violence between police and minority communities across our country.

Many of the reports have been loaded with anger, distrust and raw emotions as well as rhetoric and misinformation. Very few have offered any suggestions for a long-term solution.

However, I did come across one such report. The report stated the following:

"Tension between … minority residents and law enforcement officers has been a significant issue throughout the past several years. … [C]ities, large and small, have experienced disruption in relationships between minority community members and their police. While these incidents are certainly not occurring in most municipalities, highly publicized events … have served to fuel minority citizens' distrust of police. These tensions jeopardize police officers' safety during a time when policing has never been more dangerous.

"Police officers need and deserve the trust and support of the community which they police. Likewise, law-abiding minority community residents need to experience respect by law enforcement. Both groups share the responsibility for the safety of their communities. With improvement of mutual respect and support, public safety can be enhanced."

I believe that most reasonable people would agree that this is an accurate assessment of the relationship between police and minority communities in many of our cities today.

What might surprise you is that this statement is actually from a report, "Creating Partnerships Between Minority Residents and Law Enforcement — A Report to the Governor by the Alliance for Community and Law Enforcement Relations," that was completed in 1997.

As a member of this alliance who was nominated by Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, I served alongside law enforcement officials and political, educational, business, community and faith-based leaders, as well as representatives from the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, Pennsylvania State Police and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The report included 10 recommendations that addressed a number of issues related to tensions between police and minorities as well as what communities, government officials, police and minorities can do to resolve problems.

Upon completing the report and developing an implementation plan, members of the alliance spread across the state to meet with mayors and police chiefs to share our work and assist cities in the adoption and implementation of the recommendations and practices. Unfortunately, most mayors and police chiefs dismissed or downplayed concerns regarding police-minority community relationships and opted out.

What troubled me most about the decisions made by the mayors and police chiefs was that, although the report addressed police-minority community relations, the decision not to adopt and implement recommendations was made solely by mayors and police devoid of any community input. This course of action was not conducive to a proactive and mutually respectful relationship.

Given the incidents that have taken place recently across our country regarding police interactions with minority residents — especially those that have resulted in death — cities with significant minority populations would be best served to reassess their police-minority community relationships and consider implementing recommendations such as those in the 1997 report, such as adding minorities to the police force.

Law-abiding community members want peace and justice and are willing to step up in a proactive manner to cooperate with police and elected officials to establish safe communities. This was evident when members of the community worked cooperatively with the police in March to identify a man who shot and wounded two police officers in Ferguson, Mo. It was also evident when mothers, young men, clergy, veterans and community leaders stepped up to support police and elected officials during the height of the Baltimore riot.

Obviously, other factors, including failing school districts that fuel the school-to-prison pipeline and mass incarceration as well as the lack of viable employment opportunities and living wages, must be addressed.

A proactive course of action is within our reach. However, many leaders lack the leadership qualities and incentives to challenge the status quo and pursue such action. For those who are ready to take a proactive approach, I have my alliance report in hand. Hopefully, after years of continued conflicts, confrontations and deaths, we are ready for a new approach.

Jose Rosado is mayor of Fountain Hill and author of "Being Good at Being Bad: Troubled Teenagers, Factors and Solutions."